04-15-23
by aqualisex
Summary: During the destruction of California, due to several massive earthquakes, Santana Lopez makes a dangerous journey across the state in order to rescue her estranged wife and daughter. *BRITTANA*
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So I got this idea from watching the San Andreas movie trailer, which came on my television the other day, and decided to write my own story related to it. With Brittana, of course.**

 **If you enjoy this chapter, please let me know in the reviews, or by PM, so I'll know to continue.**

* * *

 **Monday Evening, Pasadena– 7pm**

Santana sighed with relief when she walked through the front door of her home. She was exhausted from a long day of work, and could barely keep her eyes open. The Latina had two rescues earlier that morning, one in Pasadena and the other in Los Angeles, along with a house fire across town. Luckily no one was severely injured, but a young woman received first degree burns from the flames. As usual it was chaos, but it was her job, and she loved it.

Santana changed out of her uniform and into a pair of grey sweatpants and a t shirt. She pulled her hair into a messy bun and grabbed her cell phone off of the dresser, pressing speed dial and bringing it to her ear.

"What the fuck..." Santana frowned when a drop of water hit her forehead. She glanced at the ceiling, and glared at the small crack above her. She sighed and made a mental note to get it fixed later.

" _Mami!"_ Natasha said happily, and Santana smiled at the familiarity of her daughter's voice. " _I was wondering when you would call, what are you doing? How was work?"_

"Hey baby girl," Santana replied warmly. "I just got home actually, today was busier than I had expected it to be. I know it's kind of late, and I'm sorry for that."

" _It's okay, I've been busy too actually._ " Natasha said softly. " _Jonathan is about to take us out to dinner so I can't talk long, sorry Mami._ "

"Oh, that's fine, I get it." Santana smiled, attempting to hide her disappointment. Ever since Brittany had began seeing someone else, it seemed Santana began seeing their daughter less and less. "Are we still on for lunch tomorrow? Before heading to San Fransisco? You can even invite your mom if you want, it would be fun."

" _I don't think we can make that._ " Natasha said apologetically. Santana felt her heart drop, but kept silent. " _I_ _have training for cheer until one and Mom wanted me to go to lunch with her and Jonathan. But I'm still excited for our road trip._ " She quickly added. " _I've been looking forward to it all week._ "

Santana nodded and swallowed the urge to share her thoughts on _Jonathan_ , and his impact on her family. "I'm glad, mija." Santana said softly.

" _I love you, Mami._ " Natasha whispered. " _I can't wait to see you tomorrow._ "

"I love you too, baby girl, so so much." Santana responded with a small smile. "I'll call you tomorrow when I'm on my way."

" _Cool- oh hey, can you bring my Chemistry binder when you come tomorrow? I accidentally left it last weekend and forgot to tell you._ " Natasha mumbled. " _It should be in my dresser, if not check under my bed._ "

"Sure sweetheart," Santana nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

" _Tomorrow._ " Natasha repeated with a smile. " _Can't wait. Bye Mami, have a good night._ "

"You too, baby. Tell your mother I said hi."

Santana waited for Natasha to hang up before tossing her phone on the bed, and walking to her daughter's bedroom. She rolled her eyes at the mess and moved to the dresser, attempting to avoid the clutter as she looked around the top.

Her eyes landed on a familiar picture and her body froze.

Santana stared at the picture of her, Natasha, Brittany and another small brunette from a few years ago. She remembered when and where the photograph was taken— on one of the rainy days during their San Fransisco summer trip. Santana set the picture face down and quickly grabbed the binder, before leaving the bedroom. She paused when something caught her eye as she moved through the living room.

Santana glared at the divorce papers resting on the dining room table, untouched, before grabbing a bottle of wine from the kitchen.

She was going to need it.

* * *

 **Tuesday morning, Los Angeles- 10am**

"What do we got, Jack?" Quinn Fabray asked while staring at the monitors on the wall.

"Something rather odd, really." The British man stated, frowning at the seismograph. "The frequency of the seismic waves have increased greatly over the past two hours, which is rather unusual." He explained, although Quinn knew this already. "We have had almost four mini earthquakes since eight-thirty this morning."

Quinn raised a brow. "Which means..."

"I think you know what this means," Jack stated with bright eyes. "You're the top Caltech seismologist, not me."

Quinn rolled her eyes playfully. "You're not that far behind, Adams."

"Should we go check it out?" Jack asked with a raised brow. "To confirm our theory? Keep in mind, if we're correct, we will be the first scientists in history to possibly be able to predict earthquakes. This could be our chance, when people finally listen!" He exclaimed. "We'll be able to make it to Hoover Dam before the next hit if we leave now."

Quinn contemplated on this. Her eyes darted between the copies laying on her desk, to Jack's excited face, before nodding slowly. "Get your equipment, let's do this."

* * *

"Hey Mami," Natasha smiled and waved at her mother, who was climbing out of her car. "I love your outfit." She added.

Santana glanced down at her simple grey t-shirt and black leather jacket. "Thanks, sweetheart." She chuckled.

Natasha tugged lightly on her fishtail braid, before moving forward and wrapping her arms tightly around Santana's torso. "I missed you." The younger brunette murmured into the Latina's shoulder.

Santana sighed and pressed her face into her daughter's dark hair. "I missed you too, baby. I promise we'll start spending more time together soon, okay?"

Natasha quickly pulled away from the hug. Santana smiled when she saw her blue eyes light up. "Awesome, can we go to Venice Beach again?" She asked excitedly. "I haven't been in months."

"If that's what you want." Santana nodded as she followed Natasha into the large house. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the various expensive paintings hanging on the wall, and overbearing chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the foyer. She had always secretly hoped Brittany was as miserable as she was since the separation, but it was clear that wasn't the case.

Santana felt a familiar flutter in her stomach at the sight of Brittany chopping peppers at the kitchen island. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and she had on a grey NYU hoodie. Santana's heart quickened when she realized it was hers.

"Hey Britt," Santana smiled at the blonde, who jumped at the unexpected company. Her eyes shifted between her daughter and Santana in confusion.

"Santana," Brittany's eyes widened in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to come inside."

"Well, I haven't spoken to you in awhile and I thought I'd come say hi." Santana said softly.

"Oh," Brittany nodded. "You, um, look great." She added, then blushed.

Natasha laughed and nudged Santana's shoulder, who was blushing as well. "That's what I said! Leather makes you look super badass Mami."

"Language." Santana and Brittany said quickly.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Lo siento." She mumbled.

"Oh, we have company." Jonathan waved politely as he walked into the kitchen, kissing Brittany's cheek as he passed.

"Santana, I've heard so much about you." Jonathan smiled. "It's so nice to finally meet you." Santana resisted the urge to laugh at the obvious lie, and instead offered a smile.

"Same." Santana replied with a faux sweetness.

"So, um, we're leaving soon." Natasha stated while leaning into Santana's side. Santana smiled and kissed her daughter's temple. "Mom, you'll meet up with us in San Fransisco on Thursday right?"

Brittany nodded. "I wouldn't miss your competition for the world, baby girl." She winked.

Natasha blushed. "I know."

They stood in an awkward silence, until Santana's phone dinged, providing a well-needed distraction. She smiled apologetically at Natasha and pulled the device out of her back pocket.

Santana read the text message, sent from one of her colleagues, and furrowed her brows.

"Mami?" Natasha frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Turn on channel five." Santana said quickly and tossed her phone back into her pocket.

Natasha nodded and quickly found the remote to the kitchen TV, flipping to channel five.

"– _triggering a 7.2 earthquake within the Hoover Dam area, causing the dam to abruptly collapse. We are gathering more information from our sources on the unexpected rupture, and will keep everyone updated as often as possible. Back to you, Rick._ "

"I'm guessing this means our road trip is being delayed?" Natasha sighed.

Santana nodded, the guilt settling in at the noticeable disappointment on her daughter's face. "I'll come by and pick you up tomorrow, Tash." She promised. "I just, I don't trust this weather right now baby, and I will be damned if I risk your life in attempt to travel today."

"It's fine." Natasha smiled. "I understand."

Santana frowned. "Do you—"

"Hey! I have an idea," Jonathan smiled and wrapped his arm around Brittany. Santana narrowed her eyes. "How about you ride with me to San Francisco today, I'm taking my private jet for a business trip, and then we can meet up with your moms there?" He said to Natasha. "It'll give us some time to get to know each other better."

Natasha's smile faltered. "Umm..." She glanced at Santana, who rolled her eyes angrily. "I, uh, guess that's okay."

Jonathan nodded with a bright smile. "Fantastic, and Britt, we can start moving your stuff in—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Santana held her hands up and looked between Brittany and Jonathan in disbelief. "You're moving in with him?"

Brittany bit down on her bottom lip and nodded slowly. "I was going to tell you, Santana."

"I'm sure you were." Santana replied sarcastically. "I need to get going, let me grab your binder for you baby." She murmured as she walked pass Natasha.

"Mami, wait," Natasha frowned. She then turned to Brittany with a scowl. "You didn't tell her? You said you were going to."

Brittany sighed. "Baby, I promise I was going to—"

"She deserved to know." Natasha snapped, before running out of the room. Brittany groaned and rubbed her temples harshly, before kissing Jonathan on the cheek and following Santana outside.

"Here's Natasha's chemistry binder." Santana tossed the binder in Brittany's hands and avoided her eyes. "Have a good day." She mumbled and moved to get in her car, but was stopped by something tugging her shirt.

"Wait, Santana, let's talk." Brittany pleaded. She tightened her hand around Santana's wrist and gently pulled her towards her.

"I thought we didn't do that anymore." Santana snapped. "Especially since you're moving in with your super rich boy toy now." She added lowly.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Are we doing this?"

"You know what? Maybe this is good for us. Maybe this is what I needed to move past this and start dating myself." Santana laughed bitterly. "Maybe I'll be able to find a girlfriend who I don't have to worry about straying for penis."

"Go to hell, Santana." Brittany snapped angrily.

Santana nodded slowly and took a step backwards. "I think I'll get home to sign those papers for you, Brittany." She said quietly.

Brittany opened her mouth to respond, but Santana was driving away before she had the chance to apologize.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I understand Santana's comment about Brittany "straying for penis" has caused a bit of an uproar— but Santana is, in no way biphobic, and the comment came from 5x02, so it was actually canon. She said it out of anger, and although Brittany knows she didn't mean it, she will let Santana know that saying those sorts of things aren't okay, and rather disrespectful towards her. Santana will not be making any more offensive comments towards the subject.**

 **Also, thank you for your feedback on the last chapter. I appreciate it.**

* * *

"You taking the heli up, Lopez?"

Santana glanced over her shoulder, smiling when she saw Noah Puckerman behind her. She had been called in almost twenty minutes ago for multiple emergency rescues throughout the area, due to the damage from the earthquake.

"How the hell else am I gonna get there?" Santana teased while fastening her jacket. "I am, what about you?"

"I meant by yourself." Noah rolled his eyes and playfully nudged Santana's shoulder. "I'm heading up with McKinney, be safe out there alright?"

Santana smiled and nodded. "I will, Puck."

"Hey, you still coming over later for a few beers?" Noah asked while running his fingers through his Mohawk. "I bought a whole case of Bud Light last night."

"Maybe one, I have to meet Natasha in San Fransisco early tomorrow morning." Santana told her friend.

Noah nodded, "That's cool, I'll order some pizza and wings too. You want lemon pepper or barbecue?"

"Either is fine, you know I'm not picky when it comes to wings." Santana smirked.

"True." Noah laughed. "Hey, I gotta head up, but give me a call if you have any problems okay? I can't have you getting hurt." He said seriously.

"I'll be fine, Puck. This isn't my first time saving people, you know." Santana chuckled as Noah hugged her quickly. "You be safe too, alright?"

Puck threw a smile over his shoulder and nodded. "I will, Lopez."

* * *

Sandra Valentino, head news reporter of the Channel 5 News sat across from Quinn Fabray with a microphone and her camera man behind her.

"You know, we don't have to do this now if it isn't a good time." The reporter said softly while staring at Quinn. "We heard about what happens to your partner, this can always be rescheduled."

Quinn shook her head. "No, we need to do this now. Jack gave his life for this, and the people need to be informed about what's going on."

Sandra nodded. She waited for Quinn's signal before starting the interview.

"Dr. Fabray, can you explain to us what the cause of the earthquake earlier today was?"

Quinn nodded and elegantly crossed one leg over the other. "Well see, the San Andreas Fault is about 800 miles long, and stretches from the Mendocino coast south to the San Bernardino Mountains and the Salton Sea. Geologists divide the fault into northern and southern segments, separated in the middle by a curiously quiet portion that "creeps." The central, creeping section includes everything from Parkfield to Hollister. Over the past hundred or so years, this creeping section has never generated powerful earthquakes similar to those on the "locked" sections." Quinn explained as the reporter nodded, indicating that she understood. "This is because the creeping section slowly, continuously moves, while the locked sections seem to get stuck. These stuck sections of the fault store energy like springs, slowly building up strain until they suddenly unzip and slide past one another in an earthquake."

"So, the cause was an unexplained build up in energy?" The reporter asked curiously.

"Kind of." Quinn nodded. "My team and I have been going through our databases to locate previous information we have gathered over the years, to compare to what happened earlier today. We have still not found the specific cause, but it obviously has to do with San Andreas's unsteady tectonic plates."

"Right," Sandra jotted a few notes down on her notepad. "Would you mind explaining how these earthquakes occur? I would like to understand a bit more myself."

"No problem at all." Quinn smiled, shifting in her seat. "I'll refer to the tectonic plates as blocks to make things more simple, okay?" The reporter nodded. "Well, While the edges of faults are stuck together, and the rest of the block is moving, the energy that would normally cause the blocks to slide past one another is being stored up. When the force of the moving blocks finally overcomes the friction of the jagged edges of the fault and it unsticks, all that stored up energy is released. The energy radiates outward from the fault in all directions in the form of seismic waves like ripples on a pond." Quinn stated. "The seismic waves shake the earth as they move through it, and when the waves reach the earth's surface, they shake the ground and everything on it."

"You are—"

"Dr. Fabray!" Sandra and Quinn turned towards the young man that ran into the room with a series of papers in his hands, staring at him expectantly. "You need to see this."

* * *

Brittany walked through a maze of tables and waitresses, before spotting Jonathan's mother sitting on the far side of the room. She had requested lunch with the blonde at a swanky restaurant in Los Angeles, and although Brittany was nervous, she was happy to finally be meeting members of her boyfriend's family.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible." Brittany apologized while taking a seat. "I had to make sure Natasha and Jonathan got to San Fransisco safely before I left the house."

The older woman nodded slowly and turned her nose up. "How did you meet my son, Ms. Pierce?" She asked, disregarding Brittany's apology.

"Oh, um, he came to take dance lessons at my studio. I'm not sure what for, he never told me, but we sort of hit it off from there." Brittany smiled.

Jonathan's mother frowned. "So you're a dance teacher?" She said distastefully.

Brittany raised a brow. "Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"My son is a very wealthy man, Ms. Pierce. As I'm sure you are aware." The woman stated. "If I remember correctly, dance teachers don't make much money, maybe about the same as teachers? I don't know," She waved it off. "I just want to make sure you aren't using my son for his money."

"Excuse me?" Brittany snapped. "I own a dance studio, a successful studio at that. I teach almost ten classes a day, not counting the classes I've hired people to teach. My income is none of your business, but I'm comfortable, and no, I'm not using your son for his money."

Jonathan's mother narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. "I understand you were with a _woman_ before my son. What was your girlfriend's name again?"

"She was my _wife_ , and her name is Santana." Brittany said lowly. "I came to this lunch to get to know you better and to have a good time. You will not disrespect me, or Santana, again. Do you understand?"

The woman's jaw dropped and she blinked slowly. Brittany rolled her eyes and called their waiter over, ordering herself a glass of wine.

Jonathan's mother opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of Brittany's phone ringing. She glanced at the caller ID and sighed, before looking at the woman across from her. "I need to take this." Brittany stated, before sliding out of her seat and walking to the opposite side of the room.

"Hey Santana," Brittany smiled into the phone, her anger slowly beginning to dissipate.

" _Hey Britt, am I interrupting anything?_ "

Brittany shook her head, before realizing Santana couldn't see her and blushed. "No, nothing important." She glanced at their table and rolled her eyes. "What's up?"

Brittany heard Santana sigh and leaned against the wall, preparing herself for what she was about to say. " _I just, I uh, I want to apologize for the way I left things earlier._ " She said softly. " _Britt, you know I didn't mean what I said, and I'm so, so sorry for that. I guess I still have verbal diarrhea,"_ Santana laughed nervously, _"But I'm working on it."_

"Santana, I understand why you're upset, but that doesn't validate what you said." Brittany told her firmly. "It was disrespectful and offensive towards me— you know I would never leave you for a man _or_ woman. We have been separated for almost a year, and Jonathan wasn't the only person I've dated. He was just the first that things got serious with." She explained. "And I know you've dated women too, so I don't understand what the problem is."

" _It was never serious._ " Santana mumbled.

"That's not my fault, San." Brittany sighed. "I can't—" Brittany paused when she noticed the silverware on the tables begin to tremble.

" _Brittany?_ " She could hear the frown in Santana's voice. " _You there?_ "

" _Britt?_ " Santana's concerned voice boomed through the speakers of Brittany's phone. " _Brittany? Fuck, answer me!"_

"Oh god." Brittany breathed out, before another unexpected shake threw her against the nearest wall.

* * *

 **credit to (earthquake . usgs . gov) and (livescience . com) for earthquake information**


End file.
